Price changes everything and before Christmas of this year I was looking at a new bridge camera, the Panasonic FZ150, due to its specs and low price point. Either unfortunately or for the better (the latter I hope), its price has gone up to the point that I'm now looking towards a DSLR purchase. The bridge camera was nice as I do want good movie recording with my camera. My older 3CCD MiniDV cam is in need of a good cleaning and frankly it is a good time to upgrade from my P&S and revive the fun I had years ago with my Olympus C2100UZ. DSLR here I come.

So, good movies are a must. 720p is fine, though if I can get 1080p w/o breaking the bank and it nets an overall better camera then I'll put in the extra money. I'm well aware from Gordon's reviews that these are all good quality cameras so I would just like to know where you guys would spend your money.

~$500
Canon T3

~$600
Canon T2i
Sony SLT-A33

~$700
Canon T3i

I haven't liked the Nikon's due to the AF noise while recording video as seen in Gordon's reviews.

I plan on keeping this camera for a while so I'm leaning very strongly towards the T3i, however since it is more expensive than the others I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off with one of those and putting the extra coin into a good lens.

Thanks for the info Jiko. Perhaps I'm too much in the past thinking about AF and its usefulness to not remember its detriments. Reading a little more on this reminds me why I turned off AF on my MiniDV cam while filing Christmas day of my kids. AF kept trying to focus on the bright lights of the tree. I may have to look at the Nikon as well now, ugh decisions.

In a way it may help open more options at the lower price point end of my budget. I'm also finding on many sites how the Nikon "typically" are better for DSLR beginners like myself.

Thanks again guys for the input. This has been a wild roller coaster of a journey the past 3 months when I really started looking into camcorder vs superzoom vs dslr. A little more digging and I found the T3i kit w/ 18-55mm IS II lens for a few dollars shy of $650 (US). Given I was willing to spend close to $500 on a superzoom I now feel confident I'm heading in the right direction.

Of course, now this will lead into more discussion and decision on additional lens and filters but those will be be in other posts.

NOTE, turns out that $650 deal is from a non-authorized dealer. Found this out while asking B&H to price match. Spending this much I want to make sure I have the full backing of Canon if I have any issues.

Yes this is deffinately a serious purchase if you decide to get the T3i.

Personally if its important and you dont want your money to go to waste, Id save a bit more to get everything you need and want. Who knows you might get a better price halfway through the year at the financial year, and the money you saved up by then would have stretched a bit further.

Thanks again Leo! The T3i will be here today. Man I love living in the shipping lanes in the north east where typically ground 5-10 day shipments arrive in 1 -2 days.

I'm already looking around and lenses and will be stopping by my local BB tonight to look at cases. The last time I was there they had a excellent selection of Lowepro cases. I was happy with the build quality and cost for those.

Filters are forth coming and a zoom lens, currently looking closely at a few >200mm lens for long pics and video of my daughter's dance recitals.

Unfortunately I couldn't wait until later this year due to a much anticipated family vacation and I need to get a good grasp of this camera before then.

Ah, my photography teacher always said, the best and easiest photos you take are on vacation.

his tips for me, from me to you, are

1) Set to Portrait for people, and Landscapes for people when out doors

2) use the flash when out doors if the people are appearing dark and the background bright

3) SET THE CAMERA TO SINGLE SHOT. Use the countonous when you have to - the last thing you want is to spend 10 minutes deleting photos and 2 things happen, you need to take another picture or you delete a picture you didnt want to.... It also means you only take the shots that matter... This happened to my dad with his fancy new Pentax Kr with 7 frames per second and he spent 2 hours every evening deleting pictures and always ran out of space by the end of the day and worse, he deleted a picture he wanted to keep, luckily he was able to re-shoot it again.

4) If in doubt use Auto - you are on holiday, not on a photo shoot.

5) If you need someone to take a photo of you in a group setting, DONT give your SLR to the waiter or someone - chances are they give you a blury unusable photo or they drop it (like they did with my camera on a trip to New Zeland) Have a cheap Point and shoot for back up and for those situations where you cant be the photographer. A P&S often produces better pictures than an SLR because the person you asked to take a photo knows how to use a P&S.